Instagram Lets Marketers Share Posts Across Multiple Profiles

Instagram is rolling out a new feature in iOS providing users running multiple accounts the option to share a post across two or more accounts which they manage.

The new native feature will be a godsend for agency folk and in-house marketers, streamlining implementation. Instagram is certainly one of the clunkier social channels for scaling marketing activity.

“We are rolling out this feature to provide a better experience for people who often post to multiple accounts,” an Instagram spokesperson told Techcrunch.

Users select a photo or video to post on Instagram, working through the standard onscreen prompts. If you are an admin on multiple accounts, there is then an opportunity to syndicate the post to your other profiles.

It’s Kind Of A Regram, But Not Really

The new feature is perhaps best viewed as more of a posting update, than a regram as such. You still can’t regram posts by other people, or your own after you publish.

Obviously, it is possible to technically regram, or share posts on Instagram, however, it is not a native Instagram feature. An important point, since the bulk of regramming on Instagram violates basic copyright law. Something few marketers appreciate.

It is an intriguing move from Instagram, which has always resisted calls for a native regram feature. Instagram co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom told Wired last year ‘We debate the re-share thing a lot . . . But really that decision is about keeping your feed focused on the people you know rather than the people you know finding other stuff for you to see. And I think that is more of a testament of our focus on authenticity.’

Instagram has always favoured unique content, within its feeds. Further demonstrated by the 2018 launch of IGTV, where it made it deliberately difficult to repurpose existing video, instead preferring IGTV specific video.

This stance did appear to loosen somewhat on 2018 when it introduced resharing for Instagram Stories. Again, not a regram, as such, but moves in that direction.

Instagram’s 2019 Facebookification                       

The recent leadership changes at Instagram will likely see its gradual Facebookification gather pace. For example, spot the difference in this test between Instagram Direct and Messenger…

Instagram founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, both left in late 2018, due to alleged frustrations with Facebook policies. The new CEO, Adam Mosseri, is a Facebook stalwart, and former head of Facebook News Feed.

How far the Facebookification of Instagram will go is anyone’s guess. For marketers, however, the hope is that it continues to become more user-friendly.

Social media marketing is labour intensive at the best of times. Awkward back-end systems drastically slow down implementation, limiting marketing performance, which in turn doesn’t encourage marketers to dig deep.

Something Facebook would probably welcome in 2019 as its revenue growth slows.